England unveil World Cup kits, old shirts binned after one year

ENGLAND will wear a retro-style all-white kit at this summer's World Cup. The new-look shirts have been unveiled by Nike and will go on sale later this week. The home kit, which can be worn for all three group stage games, harks back to the strip worn by England in 1970. It has a v-neck collar and dispenses with the dark blue trim featured on the current shirts. The current dark blue shorts are replaced by white. The team will wear the new outfits for the first time against Peru in a friendly at Wembley on 30 May. The away shirts, which England may wear if they make the knock-out stages of the tournament, are all red with a round collar. "Nike have looked to the past for inspiration, the shirt baring similarities to the all-white kit worn by Sir Alf Ramsey's defending champions in 1970," says The Independent. But the designers may have gone even further back in time, says the Daily Mail. It claims the "distinctive v-neck collar gives the shirt an identical look to the 1954 design sported by Billy Wright". By dropping the trim and adopting white, rather than blue, shorts England have bowed to a request from world governing body Fifa, which asked nations to "adopt predominantly singled-coloured kits to improve the quality of HD television pictures", adds the Mail. However, The Guardian says the one-colour strips are to "aid referees" rather than TV viewers. What is clear is that the new kit renders the current tops, unveiled by Nike less than one year ago and so far worn just seven times, obsolete. It has also left Ben Curtis of the Daily Mirror feeling "underwhelmed". He laments: "For all the excitement of the globe's biggest and best football tournament, any excitement surrounding the unveiling of attire quickly dissipates as you realise it's, bar the odd bit of styling, just as you expected it to be."

However, the choice of models for the new kit provoked some debate, with fringe players Raheem Sterling, Ross Barkely and Tom Cleverley all featured wearing the new designs. "The inclusion of Manchester United midfielder Cleverley in Nike's marketing material may come as a blow to fans, who hoped Roy Hodgson would leave the much-maligned 24-year-old at home for this summer's tournament," notes Metro.

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